It takes a forward posture to survive and its expansion on this level that catapults the ACC/PAC forward and provides long term survival.
There is no long term survival. Adding the tallest midgets from the PAC 12 does nothing but make sure you’re a tall midget.
The ACC has the same problem right now that the Big 12 had when it had OU/UT.
People are marveling at how “proactive” the Big 12 is being, but when UT and OU were in the Big 12, the Big 12 did nothing. They couldn’t even get a conference network going.
And that’s because the Big 12 was dead as it relates to being a conference you mention with the SEC/B1G. And OU and UT knew that. And those two believed they were teams that belonged in a Top Tier conference, instead of a next tier conference.
So they refused to go along with any next tier moves, and just demanded unequal revenue payouts until they were ready to flee.
It’s only once the Big 12 has nothing but midgets left, that they could make moves to add more midgets, thereby strengthening themselves as the next tier conference.
None of this coast to coast conference stuff where the ACC adds Cal Berkeley and Pullman, Washington, is going to make the ACC a top tier conference. It’s over for that. If “survival” means being a top tier conference, then the ACC, just like the Big 12, is dead. It cannot be saved. There is no long term survival.
And the ACC, much like the Big 12 did during its stagnation period, has teams that believe, rightly or wrongly, that they belong in a top tier conference.
And they aren’t interested in *any* moves designed to challenge the Big 12 for the right to be the tallest midget. They are only interested in getting a payout at the level of Vanderbilt and Northwestern. And there’s only one way to get that payout.
It’s not a coincidence that the ACC is doing nothing and you’re hearing Clemson say, “we want an unequal revenue payout.” It’s the OU-UT model.